Does it ever amaze you how many recipes exist in this world?

Before I started seriously cooking, I only knew how to make about 10 things total. And now look, three years later — and this blog is chock full of different recipes and treats.

And I love it. I have my staple recipes and my favorites that I go back to. But my cookbook shelf and the internet never leave me bored with food. There’s always a new concoction in the fridge every week. Some are misses. Some are just OK.

And some are big hits that I know will become part of my permanent repertoire.

Like this soup I found. I pinned it a while back and remember saying to myself that this was a really easy and cheap meal, and it looked to. die. for. The best part? It uses all staple foods you would normally find hanging around in your cabinets.

I was drawn to it mostly because of my love for canned tomato soup. I used to guzzle this stuff down when I was a kid. That paired with a grilled cheese sandwich — well, lunch couldn’t get much better than that for me. Or sometimes, I would make a bologna bagel melt. Oh god were those good.

I digress. This soup is wonderful. I nickname it “enhanced tomato soup” — basically you’re just amping up your typical canned tomato soup with garlic, onions, chili flakes, curry powder, and lentils.

Make it! You’ll fall in love with it, I swear.

Curried Tomato Lentil Soup

From Heather Christo
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 (10 oz) cans tomato soup + 2 soup cans of water
• 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (any type you prefer – I used brown)
• 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and stir constantly until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add in the tomato soup and water. Stir and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the cooked lentils, rice, and curry powder. Heat through for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings — adding more salt if desired. Serve!

My Two Cents:

Have I mentioned how easy this is? I cooked up my own lentils and rice for this, but I know lentils come in cans and there are easy boil-in-bag rices you can pick up from the store. So if you only want to dirty one pot, that’s the way to go I used condensed tomato soup, too, but I know tomato soup comes pre-made. Just be aware of how much sodium each can in it has, as those levels can get quite high.

As for the taste, the soup is nice and spicy (reduce the amount of red pepper flakes or omit if you don’t like spice). The spice paired well with the sweetness of the curry.

I think I could eat this every single day for lunch.